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Brantford-Brant

Residents seek flooding answers

Brian Thompson/The Expositor
Steffany Leggo sits in her salon in the basement of her Birkett Lane home on Friday.. More than a week after the Grand River swelled causing flooding in some areas, fans are still in use to dry the area after pumps ran for five days to remove ground water which flooded her basement.

A group of residents say the city's delay in closing gaps in the dike system was the cause of some of the most serious Grand River flooding last week.

Flood victims voiced their concerns in a sometimes heated public information meeting organized by the city on Thursday evening at TB Costain/SC Johnson Community Centre.

"I got no answers last night," Melissa Blank, who lives on Grand River Avenue, said Friday morning. "I felt like I was banging my head on a wall."

Blank said a gap in the 17-kilometre dike system at the end of Grand River Avenue at the dead end south of Scarfe Avenue where a railway line once went through wasn't blocked off until a substantial amount of water poured through it.

A second gap, also once used as a railway line, is located between the civic centre and Earl Haig Park, where there was flooding.

Systems called stop logs, essentially logs stacked horizontally, are used to block the gaps and close the dike.

"The suddenness of ice coming down the river didn't give us time to react," Nello Violin, the city's director of operational services, told about 75 people at the public meeting. "We acted as quickly as possible that morning to close the stop logs."

But James LeClair who was among the estimated 5,000 residents evacuated from their homes on the morning of Feb. 21, argues there was plenty of time.

In an e-mail to city Coun. John Utley, LeClair, who stormed out of the public meeting in frustration, questioned why the dike wasn't closed.

"The dike (on Grand River Avenue) has been closed in the past for what amounted to non-events," said LeClair. "When it was needed acutely, it wasn't closed. It should have taken mere hours to close, and warnings had been issued for days. Failing that, the dike should have been closed when the flooding began, not many hours later.

"I don't recall the exact time the gravel arrived, but it would have been sometime around 1 p.m.," LeClair said. "We were evacuated shortly after 7 a.m., which was some time after the high water was observed, and long after the surge was forecast."

Dwight Boyd, director of engineering for the Grand River Conservation Authority, said the first flood warning was issued by the GRCA at 11:45 a.m. on Feb. 16.

Boyd explained that very cold weather in late December and early January created strong blue ice in the river, sometimes as thick as two feet. On Jan. 12, higher temperatures caused melting of the ice upstream from Cambridge, causing it to lift and pile up along a five-kilometre stretch.

The return of cold temperatures, said Boyd, created frazil (slush ice), which further backed up the river water and froze into place the ice jams from early January. A warm front and heavy rainfall moved into the Grand River watershed, leading to that first flood warning on Feb. 16. A fifth message was issued by the GRCA on Feb. 21.

"The ice jam released between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m.," said Boyd. "We contacted city staff and marshalled forces quickly. We've never seen an ice jam release with this force of violence. The water released was like a dam break."

Boyd said the ice jam's travel time between Brantford and Cambridge was about six hours.

Maria Visocchi, the city's director of communications, said city crews were filling the dike breaches with aggregate "throughout the duration of the event" on Feb. 21.

She said geotechnical cloth also was used to strengthen the aggregate structure. She couldn't confirm the exact time the openings were completely filled.

Linda Squires, who lives in a brick Brantford cottage built in 1876 at the bottom of Scarfe Avenue, said flood water was already up to her knees by 7:15 a.m. when police came to her door and told her to leave. Within 45 minutes, she said the water was so high, it was about to breach the first-floor kitchen.

"I've lived here for 26 years and never had a drop of water, said Squires. "I have a lot of respect for the power of water. I really love the river. I felt the city knew what they were doing to maintain public safety."

Squires feels if the stop logs had been installed there would have been substantially less flooding. The pensioner has yet to return to her home. The furnace and electrical panel in her basement destroyed by the flood waters have been replaced but she is trying to arrange cleaning of the contaminated area before she returns.

"I'm worried about the integrity of some of the walls in the basement," said Squires. "I have house insurance but flooding isn't covered."

Blank said she had minimal damage at her Grand River Avenue home. Others around her weren't so lucky.

"There was no reason for my neighbours' flooding to go to the main level. I believe the stop logs are 100 per cent to blame. There was nothing coming over the walls."

Boyd said the GRCA is working with the city to develop permanent closures to the dike gaps, but will need to enter into an agreement with the property owner. The openings were owned by CN Railway and the land was sold to a local developer after the lines were decommissioned.

"The dike reduces the risk of flooding but it hasn't removed the flood hazard from your property," Boyd told residents.

Visocchi said the city and the GRCA are conducting inspections and "a comprehensive review of the entire Brantford watershed area to assess how extreme incidences such as this event can be further mitigated in the future."

The GRCA is preparing a report on the flood for the March 23 meeting of its board.

At Thursday's public meeting, residents got a chance to meet with representatives from the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians, a provincial program that provides financial assistance in the aftermath of a natural disaster that causes costly damage to private property.

Mayor Chris Friel said that more than 70 members of the emergency measures group have also been working in shifts day and night to answer residents' questions since the flood.

"One of the things I like about Brantford is when things like this happen, the community pulls together incredibly well. With such an extreme event, you want to know you have trained professionals and a community with a heart."

Squires said she was the recipient of "huge acts of kindness" when neighbours and complete strangers showed up at her home to help pull out the soaked contents of her basement.

Steffany Leggo operates a hair salon from the basement of her home at 133 Birkett Lane. When the flood waters came, she and her husband tried to keep the water in the basement below six inches using a series of pumps. The city also came in to pump out water. The floor is now buckled and they are worried about the structure of the house.

"We have to get in a structural engineer to see if it's sound enough to rebuild. Our insurance cap is $10,000, with a $1,000 deductible.

With damages estimated to be well above that, Loggo is looking to help from Disaster Recovery Assistance.

"I've been out of work (since the flood). I'm attempting to maintain my long-term customers by cutting their hair in my kitchen.

"I'm stressed but I'm glad nobody was injured and the water was contained just to the basement. It would have been a lot worse without the dike."